Structure/Property Development in aPET during Large Strain, Solid Phase Polymer Processing

Amorphous Polyethyleneterephthalate (aPET) is increasingly of interest for the polymer packaging industry due to its blend of excellent mechanical properties and most importantly its ease of recyclability. Among the major commercial polymers it is almost unique in the degree of improvement in mechanical properties that can be obtained through process-induced strain. For many years these unique properties have been very successfully exploited in the Injection Stretch Blow Moulding process, where it is deliberately stretched to very large strains using extremely high pressures. However, the material is now also being used in much lower pressure processes such as Thermoforming where its properties are often not fully exploited. In this work the change in structure and properties of aPET with strain is systematically investigated using a high speed biaxial stretching machine. The aim was to demonstrate how the properties of the material could be controlled by large strain, high temperature biaxial stretching processes such as thermoforming and blow moulding. The results show that property changes in the material are driven by the onset of rapid strain hardening at large strains. This in turn is shown to vary strongly with process-induced parameters such as the strain rate and the mode and magnitude of biaxial deformation.